Branching

Database branches on the hosted Supabase platform. Each branch is a short-lived database environment created from a parent project, used for previews and migrations.

Studio surfaces involved

Folder	Purpose
apps/studio/components/interfaces/BranchManagement/	Branch list, create / delete / merge UI, branch-aware nav.

Data layer

Under apps/studio/data/branches/.

How it works

Branches are a hosted-platform feature; the actual provisioning happens on Supabase's backend. Studio is the front-end for it. Once a branch exists, most of Studio's other surfaces (Database, Auth, Storage) read/write against that branch's project ref.

graph LR
    UI[BranchManagement UI]
    Mut[data/branches/*-mutation]
    API[Mgmt API /v1/projects/{ref}/branches]
    Platform[Hosted platform]

    UI --> Mut
    Mut --> API
    API --> Platform

Self-hosted installs do not have branching — there is no equivalent in docker/docker-compose.yml.

Integration points

• Hosted Supabase platform (closed-source).
• The project switcher in components/interfaces/Sidebar.tsx understands branch refs and rewrites navigation accordingly.

Entry points for modification

• New branch action → extend data/branches/ + UI in BranchManagement/.
• Cross-feature awareness → if your feature should adapt when on a branch, look at how the sidebar and breadcrumbs surface branch state and follow the same pattern.